Living In Squalor

We sometimes joke that our friends would be surprised that we occasionally (occasionally or more frequently than not) "live in squalor." Living in squalor happens when we haven't picked up around the house in a while, or when we have cat fur that have become tumbleweeds, accumulating in corners and under the couch. Well, if we ever did live in squalor, we are certainly living in squalor now. We are in the middle of packing and sorting. You know, the part where all your belongings are sitting in limbo and out in the open, not tucked away in the back of a deep closet. Boxes on boxes of books shoved into a corner, and bags or things to be recycled or given away.

I used to think that the reason squalor occasionally exists in our house is because we just have so little room. Of course, that was just me fooling myself. We went to someone's apartment yesterday evening (in the neighborhood) to look at a bed frame we are thinking of buying second hand. His space was small, but so neat (and stylish!). I'm not sure where all his "stuff" was, but I told Chris that I wished I was him- where moving would consist of just the furniture and three (maybe four) small measly boxes of belongings. 

I don't think we have a problem with getting rid of things, we just have a problem with how often we go through and get rid of items we don't need. But perhaps we need to look at how we come to accumulate things that we don't truly need.

I've always heard the saying that moving is a great time to clean. You should only take with you items that you love and/or find useful. (This gets tough with items like the paper shredder. I hate the paper shredder, but it is useful. And it is sentimental- Chris carried this paper shredder that weighs probably over 40 lbs in a backpack through Manhattan...twice! He'll be sad if we ever have to get rid of it).

So, my goal for the new place (and I'll have to be Chris on board) is to keep it minimal. 

*First photo: making progress with packing. Oh, that bin of dirt houses our wriggler worms- an item that I love (granted it's an eyesore) AND find useful!

The "Original" Blog

We have not moved in six years. It's safe to say that we are, we have been pretty settled. Before we lived in our little apartment at the bottom of the Hill, we lived in an even little-er apartment at the top of the Hill for a year. Before that, we lived in an even smaller apartment in the heart of New York City for two years. And before that, we were in a moderate sized, one-room apartment in Boston for a year. So, you can see that we are no strangers to moving, but it's been quite some time since we've had to even think about it. 

I started packing yesterday and I found what I call, the original form of blogging…an old scrapbook that I started in college (of course, this is why packing can be so time consuming- finding and looking through old treasures!). These were the days when online blogs were certainly more rare, and memories were physically cut, pasted, and hand-written into an album. I loved reading out loud the blurbs I wrote. We laughed and commented about how "teenager-y" it all sounded. Truth be told, it did, but then again, a teenager did write it.

I also concluded that we might have liked each other more back then…perhaps not really, but we liked each other differently. It was evident that we grew old (older) together and had we not, it wouldn't really have worked all these years later. 

It's funny what your mind remembers and what it forgets over time. So, I'm glad to have documented some fun times. I hope that this blog serves a similar purpose for me in the future (only, when I pore over it then, there will be less laughing at the writing style!). 

Oh, and we seemed to have also found some original "selfies," too!

Spring beginnings

The weather has finally started to thaw out and warm up this week. This is truly the first week this year, where I am starting to think that spring has finally arrived and here haven't been days below 32 degrees! 

We spent some time in New York two weekends ago. Though one of the days was just purely miserable with constant downpour of rain, we had a good time. Of course, Harry came along, which I documented a little here. We indulged in some pretty great food- one of my favorites being a chicken and waffles brunch. As you can see from the photo above, we made it to Ippudo, a ramen restaurant in the East Village. Chris enjoyed it a lot, and though it was pretty great (and he gives me completely grief for saying this), I have said that I wasn't necessarily blown away, per se. I look forward to having some amazing ramen in Tokyo for comparison (maybe some day!).

Interestingly, we spent a lot of time in Brooklyn- more time than we have ever spent before. And though I appreciate the quirkiness of it, I also appreciate that it is not a town for me (or us) to live in. Several evenings ago, after our trip, we just happened to stumble upon an interesting documentary about the gentrification of Brooklyn and the controversial downtown Brooklyn re-zoning project. There was a sadness conveyed in this film, and it places a different perspective about all the "citifying" and "hipsterizing" of Brooklyn. It was nice to have spent some time in the neighborhoods that were being discussed.

On a very happy note, during our trip, we were able to stop by the Lower Eastside Ecology Center's booth at the Union Square Farmers' market to pick up our wriggler worms!  We are starting our indoor composting project again and I could not be happier. As you may know, we had one for years…YEARS (more on their story in a later post). 

We have the big move coming up next month and it will be a whirlwind of packing, traveling, and organizing. Until then, we've been trying to make it to our neighborhood eateries (nothing fancy) and last night, we took a nice stroll across the Boston Commons to Uburger. I will definitely miss it! 

Afternoons together

Chris has had a lighter schedule the past couple of weeks and we've sometimes had afternoons where we're able to spend more time together.  

Last Friday, he met me at work and we biked home together. It was just a few days after the last big snow storm. I snapped the picture above, while we were biking over the ramp from the Esplanade.  It all looks like snow, which it is, but sits over the frozen Charles River. A dock leading to…snow, it appears. The sun was in my eyes, so I couldn't see a thing on my phone. I'm glad it turned out well.

We had another such afternoon yesterday, which was a nice surprise. We grabbed lunch at Sam LaGrassa's. We've only been twice, but it's pretty great. We each order a sandwich and it is so much food that we're not even hungry for dinner that evening! If you can believe it, the shop is only open from 11am - 3:30pm on Mondays through Fridays. We're pretty convinced it's a front. But regardless, it's delicious. I'm always so pleased to see small businesses who march to the drum of their own hours. These are people who understand that there needs to be a work-life balance and that if you do good work, others will seek you out. I recently read an interesting article about a similar scenario in the South of France. It was about a young chef and owner at a burgeoning, hot restaurant who made the big decision to be closed on Sundays. This was a major decision because Sundays are the day in France where families get together for meals. However, this chef decided that it was much worth the effort to spend time with his own family. And business is still booming. 

We enjoy Chronicle, a local television news segment on restaurants (where we were re-introduced to Sam LaGrassa's). We already have a list going of places we'd like to try! Interestingly, some of these delicious suggestions are outside of the city in the suburbs. Perhaps this makes the decision of moving out of the city a little less of a blow. 

Champions' Breakfast

We always look forward to big Sunday morning breakfasts at home and this past Sunday was no disappointment. We've had a pretty hectic week already, so no major updates until things have settled a bit. 

Between taking care of a puppy and house-perusing (I don't want to call it house-hunting because it sounds so much more major when "hunting" is used), I feel up to the eyeballs in business/stress. Hopefully more to share soon...

Freshly Baked

We forced ourselves outdoors yesterday, even though it rained and rained- just like last Saturday! We couldn't quite think of any place we'd like to go on foot, but decided that we hadn't been to Iggy's in Cambridge, in a long while. We are always in search of freshly baked, high quality, delicious bread. Though we do have a specialty grocer around the corner, a true bakery is something our neighborhood could really use! Our other favorite bakery is Clear Flour. We adore the challah bread there, which is only baked on certain days, so a bit difficult to come by! Our quest for the perfect bakery started quite a few years ago with the desire to find the perfect French croissant. That, we're still searching for…

I read a blog post about the French and their willingness to drive the extra mile to the next town for a better boulangerie. This sentiment is quite apt to how we feel about good bread. We managed to use everything we brought home from the bakery this weekend. We had some croissant bites with eggs for breakfast today, in addition to french bread pizza for lunch. We supplemented our split-pea soup dinner this evening with garlic bread.

We felt badly that Harry would be cooped up all weekend again, due to the rain, so he joined us on the little drive to Cambridge. He stayed in his bag the entire trip- his feet didn't even get dirty!

On the way home from the bakery

Town & Country

Last weekend was a weekend where we had a taste of suburban life. Saturday was gray and drizzled rain all day long. It feels wonderful on those days when we have nothing pressing to do, nowhere to be, and no one to see, where we just curl up on the couch in the morning with our furry ones and quietly peruse the internet, or "study" (Chris may be the only one to study on the iPhone. Is he studying the entire time? I don't know.) Though it's just down-time, it never feels like wasted time. We did venture out in the middle of the day for lunch in the neighborhood (our favorite burrito place, Viva Burrito). We got caught up in the worst of the storm on our way home and had to jog the rest of the way- we didn't bring our umbrellas! In the evening we headed out to Newton to meet some friends for dinner. It's always a fun time, but driving in the pitch dark rain, felt a tad too…solitary to me. 

The weather was much better on Sunday (though the picture above wouldn't suggest it!) and we spent the morning looking at a home in a town in the suburbs. Yes, this somewhat out of character, but as you may know, I have had, for many years, the pull of finding a "country house." It's well documented. 

Truly, we are city people. I like the bustle, the noise, the lights, the almost impersonality of it all. I LIKE to walk or ride my bike and zip around when I need to. It's also amazing to have other transportation options at your fingertips. I enjoy the many dining out options and all the small businesses and shops. But living in a city has its tolls as well: the lack of space, the parking, the neighbors for goodness sakes. As of late, I find myself asking if we're too old to be living in the city. Are we just becoming more intolerant of these tolls? I always imagined us to be city people with a country house, for times when we need an escape. Maybe someday, I suppose. But lately, I read old posts like the one above and think: could that be us... everyday? Grilling, smiling, playing with dog (who is just. so. happy. in a huge yard), and having friends over for card games? Ok, maybe that won't happen every day, but you can see…there are benefits that seem so attractive. It's easy to romanticize about a suburban life. Especially when it comes in a package like: a home across the street from a fruit and vegetable farm, horse stalls/barns down the road, all together with a quaint little town center near-by…

We took Harry and Chelsea with us on our country jaunt. They mostly slept in the back seat while we drove around. We got out on the campus of Wellesley College so they could stretch their legs and romp around. It was just too cold, though! We walked a bit, but the fields were too muddied from the rain from the previous day. I think they enjoyed the outing, but they quickly looked at us, shivering, anticipating getting back into the car. Perhaps an indoor dog park is what the city needs. I'd count that as a reason to stay. 

Above photo: winter walk at Wellesley College.